World Cup hero Tim Krul has revealed how he won the mind games during Holland’s quarter-final win over Costa Rica.

Holland manager Louis van Gaal caught the tournament minnows by surprise after two goal-less hours in Salvador by throwing Krul on just in time for the penalty shoot-out.

Krul - nicknamed Baker Hands in the Netherlands - made vital saves from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umaña to ensure his country triumphed on penalties and booked a place in the semi-finals against Argentina.

Krul said: “I watched them (Costa Rica) against Greece and studied them and I told the players that I knew where they were going to shoot to make them a bit nervous. Maybe it worked.

“It happened before when I played against Frank Lampard: I told him that I knew and I saved it. I just tried that again. I’m so happy it worked.”

And Krul said he wasn’t nervous when he came on because Van Gaal had already hatched the plan before the game.

Van Gaal said: “We told Tim that he would be the better goalkeeper for a penalty shoot-out because he’s taller. We didn’t say anything to Cillessen because we didn’t want to interfere with his preparations or his concentration.

“However, there is no question whatsoever that Cillessen will be in the starting line-up again for the next match. It was just that in this case we felt Krul was the better option and he proved us right. He went the right way on every penalty.”

Regardless of what happens now, Krul has played a big part in Holland’s World Cup finals and will pick up a medal in the third and fourth place play-off at least after reaching the last four.

When asked about the Dutch celebrations, Krul said: “It’s surreal, I can’t describe it at the moment. Seeing the boys run towards me: I’ve seen that so many times on TV after goalkeepers save penalties and win the game.

“That it’s me in a World Cup quarter-final is something surreal and I don’t think it’ll sink in for a couple of days.”